Open AccessAtorvastatin-induced pancreatitis
Author(s) -
Sanjeev Prajapati,
Samidh Shah,
Chetna Desai,
Mira Desai,
R K Dikshit
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
indian journal of pharmacology/the indian journal of pharmacology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.286
H-Index - 59
eISSN - 1998-3751
pISSN - 0253-7613
DOI - 10.4103/0253-7613.70400
Subject(s) - atorvastatin , medicine , acute pancreatitis , pancreatitis , abdominal pain , vomiting , hyperlipidemia , drug , epigastric pain , gastroenterology , pharmacology , endocrinology , diabetes mellitus
Drugs account for 1-2% of all cases of pancreatitis. A 58-year-old man was prescribed atorvastatin 10 mg for 6 months for hyperlipidemia. He developed acute abdominal pain and vomiting with epigastric tenderness. Serum lipase and CT scan of the patient suggested the presence of acute pancreatitis. The patient was hospitalized; atorvastatin was stopped and treated symptomatically. He recovered completely within 10 days of drug withdrawal. The causality of the adverse drug reaction according to Naranjo and WHO-UMC Scale was probable. The exact mechanism of pancreatitis due to atorvastatin is not known. It may be a class effect of HMG CoA reductase inhibitors as it had been reported with other statins too. The definite causal relationship is difficult to establish, as rechallenge with the suspected drug was not done due to ethical consideration.